bottle

bottle — noun

1. a container with a small top opening for holding drinks or other liquid.

1.nounA2
Definition

a container with a small top opening for holding drinks or other liquid.

Example

Aiko filled a glass bottle with cold tea for the picnic.

a bottle of / glass bottle

After the street concert, three empty juice bottles rolled under the park bench.

Common collocations
  • glass bottle
  • plastic bottle
  • water bottle
  • a bottle of juice
Synonyms
  • container

    much broader; does not suggest a neck or bottle shape

  • jar

    usually has a wider mouth and is often used for food

  • flask

    often smaller or made for carrying drink

Grammar Patterns

a bottle of + liquid

glass / plastic bottle

Usage Note

Common with materials and contents, especially in patterns such as 'glass bottle', 'plastic bottle', and 'a bottle of water'. Distinguish from sense 4 when the focus is the amount inside, not the container itself.

Common Mistakes

Please put the flowers in a bottle.
Please put the flowers in a jar.
a bottle usually has a narrow neck, so it is the wrong container for flowers.

2. a feeding bottle for a baby, or the milk or formula given in it.

2.nounA2
Definition

a feeding bottle for a baby, or the milk or formula given in it.

Example

When the twins woke, Dad warmed two bottles in the kitchen.

bottle = one milk feed

The baby pushed the bottle away and fell asleep again.

Common collocations
  • warm a bottle
  • give a baby a bottle
  • finish a bottle
  • clean bottle
Synonyms
  • feeding bottle

    more explicit term for the container

  • baby bottle

    common everyday phrase for the container

  • feed

    used only when talking about one meal, not the object

Grammar Patterns

give a baby a bottle

finish a bottle

Usage Note

This sense can mean either the container itself or one milk feed from it. Distinguish from sense 1, which is any narrow-necked container for liquids.

Common Mistakes

The baby finished one milk bottle.
The baby finished one bottle.' / 'The baby finished a bottle of milk.
as a feeding amount, 'bottle' already suggests the milk feed.

3. bravery to do something risky or unpleasant.

3.nounC1
Definition

bravery to do something risky or unpleasant.

Example

Tariq finally had the bottle to ask for a pay rise.

have the bottle to + verb

It takes real bottle to dive first into that cold river.

Common collocations
  • have the bottle
  • show bottle
  • lose your bottle
  • real bottle
Synonyms
  • courage

    the most neutral and general word

  • nerve

    often suggests steady courage under pressure

  • guts

    more informal and stronger in tone

Antonyms
  • fear

    focuses on the feeling that stops brave action

  • timidity

    more formal; suggests lack of confidence

Grammar Patterns

have the bottle to + verb

show / lose bottle

Usage Note

Mostly British informal. Common in patterns such as 'have the bottle', 'show bottle', and 'lose your bottle'.

Common Mistakes

She had many bottles before the speech.
She had a lot of bottle before the speech.
in this sense, 'bottle' is uncountable.

4. the quantity that fills one bottle or is sold in one bottle.

4.nounB2
Definition

the quantity that fills one bottle or is sold in one bottle.

Example

Omar drank a whole bottle of water after the long hike.

quantity sense: a whole bottle of

The recipe needs half a bottle of soy sauce.

half a bottle of + liquid

Common collocations
  • a whole bottle
  • half a bottle
  • three bottles of water
  • a bottle of oil
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

half / one / two bottles of + liquid

drink / buy + number + bottles

Usage Note

Choose this sense when 'bottle' works as a unit of amount, especially with numbers or fractions. Sense 1 is about the object itself.

Common Mistakes

Add one bottle soy sauce.
Add one bottle of soy sauce.
this quantity sense normally uses 'bottle of + liquid'.
Idioms

let the genie out of the bottle

idiom

To take an action that causes major changes and cannot be undone.

By releasing the virus data, the scientist let the genie out of the bottle.

Did the new law let the genie out of the bottle for online privacy?

bottle — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Bottle' is the everyday word for a narrow container used for liquids. A 'jar' is usually shorter and wider at the top, so it suits jam, sauce, or pickles better than drinking water. A 'flask' is often smaller and made for carrying a drink with you. A 'vial' is much smaller again and is mainly used for medicine or laboratory liquids. 'Container' is the broadest word and says almost nothing about shape. So you can say 'She packed a bottle of water for the bus,' but 'jar of water' sounds odd there. In a kitchen, though, 'a jar of honey' is completely natural.

bottle ↗jar ↗flaskvialcontainer ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • glass bottle
  • plastic bottle
  • water bottle
  • wine bottle

Adverbs

Phrases

  • open a bottle
  • empty a bottle
  • bottle fruit
  • have the bottle

Prepositions

  • bottle of
  • in a bottle
  • from a bottle

Etymology

Medieval LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Bottle came into English in the Middle English period from Old French, and the French form goes back to Medieval Latin butticula, a word for a small cask or flask. The earliest meaning was the physical container for liquid. From that concrete idea, English later built the verb for putting food or drink into bottles and a few informal figurative uses, such as the British sense about courage.